Caitlin
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An article with theme of the many effects China has had on the world pearls market:
http://archives.modernjeweler.com/publication/article.jsp?pubId=1&id=159
The following is a brief quote from a long interesting article available at above address. Also some good pictures in this article.
FOR EVERY PALETTE AND POCKETBOOK
Until China became the world's dominant pearl producer in the late 1990s, this gem was thought of strictly, or mostly, in black and white terms. Except for a handful of golden pearls from the South Seas, the typical jewelry store pearl department was divided between white pearls from Japan and black pearls from Tahiti?the overwhelming majority of them white and round.
China introduced technicolor into pearl departments, at first with lovely plum-purple and apricot-orange natural colors in semi-round and oval shapes. Using various bleaching techniques, China's freshwater farmers also flooded the market with white pearls. True, these were not the equal in luster to Japan's or even Australia's, but they had plenty of glow for the astonishingly low prices asked for them.
But let's stick with color for the moment. The sudden influx of natural fancy color Chinese freshwater pearls prompted an immediate collateral interest in Tahitian fancy color saltwater lagoon pearls. Suddenly pearls with once-despised taupe, bronze, and pistachio hues that had been gathering dust in reject bins were the hottest items in the pearl market. The rising tide of Chinese fancy colors fostered a riptide-like discovery of Tahiti's unique color rainbow. Within a year, dealers had cleaned out Tahiti's backlog of crazy colors. This forced the trade to created multicolor strands. At first, the trend followed origin lines, with strands combining either Tahitian or Chinese pearls but rarely, if ever, both.
Then, around two years ago, dealers started making striking strands composed of pearls from every pearl producing locality of note. Not only did this expand the pearl color palette but it made strands more affordable.
The profound new Chinese influence extended past colors into shapes. Pearls were no longer thought of as round, oval, or pear shaped. They were baroque or indented with rings. They could look like coins or rectangles, cereal flakes, rock candy, you name it.
And China always provided an affordable version of the latest, most fashionable genre. Take baroque pearls that often look wing-tipped. When strands of South Sea baroque pearls suddenly became an unquenchable craze, nucleated baroque freshwater pearls started appearing from China in 12 to 16mm sizes, often far larger.
Here, too, China broke old rules and new grounds. "The old stereotype of China," says Avi Raz of A&Z Pearls, Los Angeles, "is mainly of a country that excels in high quantity, low-priced pearls. But I have found some Chinese round and baroque pearls that are as beautiful as any produced in the world and which are deserving of top prices." Recently, Raz found enough superb Chinese nucleated baroque pearls to make a high-luster multicolor strand which he sold for $9,000. If that sounds high, you will be shocked to learn that this writer has seen lesser strands selling for more. The point: There is an emerging market for luxury Chinese pearls that is proving immune to price volatility in the commercial sector of the market. That means a diminishing fear factor when it comes to China.
That's good news for dealers who fear that lower prices for Chinese pearls puts crushing gravitational pull on the prices of pearls from other localities?even those which place greater emphasis on quality and try to calibrate supply to demand.
http://archives.modernjeweler.com/publication/article.jsp?pubId=1&id=159
The following is a brief quote from a long interesting article available at above address. Also some good pictures in this article.
FOR EVERY PALETTE AND POCKETBOOK
Until China became the world's dominant pearl producer in the late 1990s, this gem was thought of strictly, or mostly, in black and white terms. Except for a handful of golden pearls from the South Seas, the typical jewelry store pearl department was divided between white pearls from Japan and black pearls from Tahiti?the overwhelming majority of them white and round.
China introduced technicolor into pearl departments, at first with lovely plum-purple and apricot-orange natural colors in semi-round and oval shapes. Using various bleaching techniques, China's freshwater farmers also flooded the market with white pearls. True, these were not the equal in luster to Japan's or even Australia's, but they had plenty of glow for the astonishingly low prices asked for them.
But let's stick with color for the moment. The sudden influx of natural fancy color Chinese freshwater pearls prompted an immediate collateral interest in Tahitian fancy color saltwater lagoon pearls. Suddenly pearls with once-despised taupe, bronze, and pistachio hues that had been gathering dust in reject bins were the hottest items in the pearl market. The rising tide of Chinese fancy colors fostered a riptide-like discovery of Tahiti's unique color rainbow. Within a year, dealers had cleaned out Tahiti's backlog of crazy colors. This forced the trade to created multicolor strands. At first, the trend followed origin lines, with strands combining either Tahitian or Chinese pearls but rarely, if ever, both.
Then, around two years ago, dealers started making striking strands composed of pearls from every pearl producing locality of note. Not only did this expand the pearl color palette but it made strands more affordable.
The profound new Chinese influence extended past colors into shapes. Pearls were no longer thought of as round, oval, or pear shaped. They were baroque or indented with rings. They could look like coins or rectangles, cereal flakes, rock candy, you name it.
And China always provided an affordable version of the latest, most fashionable genre. Take baroque pearls that often look wing-tipped. When strands of South Sea baroque pearls suddenly became an unquenchable craze, nucleated baroque freshwater pearls started appearing from China in 12 to 16mm sizes, often far larger.
Here, too, China broke old rules and new grounds. "The old stereotype of China," says Avi Raz of A&Z Pearls, Los Angeles, "is mainly of a country that excels in high quantity, low-priced pearls. But I have found some Chinese round and baroque pearls that are as beautiful as any produced in the world and which are deserving of top prices." Recently, Raz found enough superb Chinese nucleated baroque pearls to make a high-luster multicolor strand which he sold for $9,000. If that sounds high, you will be shocked to learn that this writer has seen lesser strands selling for more. The point: There is an emerging market for luxury Chinese pearls that is proving immune to price volatility in the commercial sector of the market. That means a diminishing fear factor when it comes to China.
That's good news for dealers who fear that lower prices for Chinese pearls puts crushing gravitational pull on the prices of pearls from other localities?even those which place greater emphasis on quality and try to calibrate supply to demand.
